Would you change 1 thing about your past if you could?

[tooge]

Sort of a piggy back off of the 1 regret thread. You have a choice. You can stay the course of your life, or you could go back and change 1 thing. Would you change anything, and what would it be? Knowing of course, that changing even 1 small thing could lead to a completely different life now, possibly worse, because our lives are shaped by the sum of all of our experiences.

I think I would not change anything at all. I'm happy how it's all turned out to this point.

[penguinz]

I would start training the way I do now in my teens.

[Jewish Rabbi]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I have a lot of things I wish I’d have done differently with hindsight. I’m starting to believe more and more that things happen for a reason….and the choices I made then that I might change, change important things like..the family I have now. I’d not change that.

If I could go back and prevent some accidents and save people I love a lot of pain…I’d do it. But…I can look now on things that resulted from some of those events that were a net positive. I’d like to keep the cow from stomping my mom and I into the ground….but it made me so much more appreciative of my parents and they relaxed more after…..I’d like to keep my son from falling into a fire and save him that pain and those scars….but maybe that toughened him up for something in the future. I’d prevent a couple of car accidents and save myself and a friend some broken bones and arthritis. I’d go intervene before a neighbor kid drowned…..I’d invest in bitcoins and apple and google and Facebook early on…….id have tried harder to have bought a couple of farms…..

But the truth is, when I think about these things, I focus on the fact that while the outcomes are what they are….i did the right thing at the time with the information and situations I had….it doesn’t matter that I could have bought farms for $400/acre that now sell for $6500/acre….i didn’t have th cash to do it. I did the best I could at the time to stop events or help as much as I could at the time. Maybe…things turned out the way they’re supposed to.

At the risk of changing things unintentionally not knowing g the impact of changed outcomes….i guess I’ll take the scars and lessons as part of the process. I’m not changing much.

Great reflection here, and a conclusion I normally settle on too. Like the previous poster who mentioned he could have bought Bitcoin at 10 cents. We all could have, and most of us would have sold at $10, or $100, or whatever. It's easy to look back and woulda coulda shoulda, but it's an exercise in futility.

[Iowanian]

There are a lot of things I wish I’d done differently…and I’m trying to advise my kids to do better than i did.

I regret the way I treated some people in school. I wish I’d have learned to play guitar. I wish I’d have let some things go that weren’t worth the stress or worth throwing those hands….

I’ve done a lot of reflection the past few months…and I stand by that all of these answers change with age and life experience. The only thing we can do is learn from the things we did or did not do and do better with the rest of our remaining time.

[TripleThreat]

Not getting into Crypto.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by TomBarndtsTwin

Getting in a fight at a little league game.

It’s all gone downhill since . . . .

I thought this was America?

[BWillie]

Probably would have went hunting with my pops more.

[tooge]

Originally Posted by Iowanian

I have a lot of things I wish I’d have done differently with hindsight. I’m starting to believe more and more that things happen for a reason….and the choices I made then that I might change, change important things like..the family I have now. I’d not change that.

If I could go back and prevent some accidents and save people I love a lot of pain…I’d do it. But…I can look now on things that resulted from some of those events that were a net positive. I’d like to keep the cow from stomping my mom and I into the ground….but it made me so much more appreciative of my parents and they relaxed more after…..I’d like to keep my son from falling into a fire and save him that pain and those scars….but maybe that toughened him up for something in the future. I’d prevent a couple of car accidents and save myself and a friend some broken bones and arthritis. I’d go intervene before a neighbor kid drowned…..I’d invest in bitcoins and apple and google and Facebook early on…….id have tried harder to have bought a couple of farms…..

But the truth is, when I think about these things, I focus on the fact that while the outcomes are what they are….i did the right thing at the time with the information and situations I had….it doesn’t matter that I could have bought farms for $400/acre that now sell for $6500/acre….i didn’t have th cash to do it. I did the best I could at the time to stop events or help as much as I could at the time. Maybe…things turned out the way they’re supposed to.

At the risk of changing things unintentionally not knowing g the impact of changed outcomes….i guess I’ll take the scars and lessons as part of the process. I’m not changing much.

Yeah, same here. The few somewhat tragic events in my past were all things that shaped who I am and resulted ultimately in the life I have now, so I wouldn't change anything at all I guess.

[Rain Man]

There are probably tons of things that dampen down over time to have zero long-term impact. If I could go back and not buy a pair of shoes that ended up being uncomfortable, I might have used the money to get rich on some flash crypto, but most likely I would have just purchased a different pair of shoes that would have made me more comfortable when I wore them. There are probably a thousand different instances where a different decision would increase short-term pleasure or decrease short-term pain without having a long-term impact. It would be nice to change one of those.

But the thing is, we don't know which actions dampen down to zero and which ones don't. Maybe not getting my thumb smashed by the Paraguayan Uber driver in February would have no impact other than me not having a black thumbnail right now. Or maybe staying in the hotel for a day with my thumb in an ice bucket kept me from getting run over by a drunk driver while I was coming home from the Asuncion Museum of Chairs.

Therefore, changing one thing without a long-term impact can by definition only have a fleeting positive impact or avoidance of a negative impact and is therefore trivial by defnition.

[Coochie liquor]

Originally Posted by crispystl

What would that be? If you don't mind me asking?

Sent you a PM

[Womble]

I wish I hadn't noticed Gracie Hunt's mutant feet. I'll never see her in the same light again.

[Pepe Silvia]

Originally Posted by Womble

I wish I hadn't noticed Gracie Hunt's mutant feet. I'll never see her in the same light again.

A-hoo, werewolves of London.

[crayzkirk]

Taken a left turn instead of a right; waiting for a light to change and got slammed resulting in herniated discs in my neck. Loss of strength in my arms, tremors in my hands, paralyzed left diaphragm and partially paralyzed right diaphragm. I used to be a runner and now get winded walking a couple of miles. Life can and does change in an instant.

[TinyEvel]

I wish I had gotten sober at 30 years old instead of 48.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by TinyEvel

I wish I had gotten sober at 30 years old instead of 48.

How many more years till you turn 48, my friend?

[ChiefGator]

I tend to not REGRET too much... maybe I put too much stock in that word.

As for things I would change though, I would go back in time about 15 years ago and tell myself to stop working the university library for pennies. When I left, I literally doubled my income within a year, and worked for like $35k for way too many years as a software engineer. Got bumped to $50k finally, and then $75k for one year, and was making $125k two years after I left the library. It was a nice cush job and I didn't need the money much and enjoyed "not building bombs", but stayed there too long.

Of course, (other than a history of being more poor and not enough investments) I love my life and kids right now and wouldn't want to to lose them for anything. So, maybe changing that means I don't end up where I am now.

Still, would have been nice to own a house before I was 50.